Advanced Soccer Passing - How to Draw in a Defender

Free Soccer Training video focused on How to Draw in a Defender. At Online Soccer Academy (OSA) we make BETTER Soccer Players / Football Players through FREE soccer tutorials. We inspire athletes that if you Believe in it® and back that up with hard work, anything in life is possible.

Advanced Soccer Passing - How to Draw in a Defender

When you draw defenders in what does that mean? It means other teammates of yours will be open. Regular players make passes to their teammates. The best soccer mid players know how to draw defenders in and then pass it to an open teammate. This gives their teammate more time on the ball because they got the defender to leave their teammate and come to them.

First I will set up the soccer drills and then I will go over the key points.

Equipment Needed: You will need a few soccer balls, a partner and 6 cones.

Exercise Player Can Do:

Set up a start cone where your soccer balls will go. Then set up a 2nd cone about 10 yards in front of the start cone. At 45 degree angles, almost in a Y shap, from the 2nd cone set up two small cone goals about 15 yards from the second cone. These cone goals will be your imaginary teammates.

The defender will stand behind the second cone about 7 yards away.

When ready, you the attacker will dribble to the second cone glancing up as you go so you can see the field and the defenders. The defender will start to light jog towards you. This is you drawing in the defender. Prior to meeting at the cone and the defender being on right on top of you pass the ball to one of your imaginary teammates.

The defender is not trying to win it. They are applying light pressure to make it feel game like.

Leave the ball and repeat the exercise until you run out of balls. Then gather the balls rest a few seconds, switch with the defender and repeat. Do a few sets or until you feel comfortable.

Key Points:

1. Make sure to recognize when the defender is stepping to you and you are drawing them in. This means dribbling with your head up.

2. Be patient. Don't make the pass to early, but don't make it to late. As the defender commits wait until they get about 5 steps away from you before you pass the ball. Wait to late and the defender will be right on top of you giving them a better chance of winning it.

Pass to early and it will increase the chance they intercept the pass or are able to get back in time and mark your teammate. This doesn't give your teammate the amount of time you want to give them.

3. Use the inside or outside of your foot for your pass.

4. Be confident. It takes guts to hold onto the ball long enough to draw in players before passing it off.

Now lets go make this exercise happen. If you don't have a partner then just imagine you are drawing a defender in.

What Player Could Be Doing Wrong:

If the defender is constantly winning the ball from you then you are waiting to long to pass it off. Or you could be trying to dribble too much.

Don't get me wrong; sometimes take on a player 1v1 when you are confident and the situation calls for it. But also recognize when to pass it off.

Bonus Tip!

The best players make the players around them better. If you can give your teammates more time on the ball in the attacking third because you can draw in a defender before passing it to them; you will be a better player.